Back from Disney w/review

What an amazing vacation! I will NEVER forget this trip for as long as I live. The looks on my girls faces when they saw something for the first time melted my heart. It was priceless! I had many teary eyed moments.

I thought I would write a review of the hotel, restaurants and some other tips that really helped us.

First, we traveled with 3 DD's (ages: almost 5, 3 1/2 and 9 months) and DH and I were both nervous. I had anxiety over everything. Would we be able to handle it, the logistics of everything, is the baby too young, are our dinner reservations too late...etc, etc. Well, I'm more than happy to say everything was perfect!

We flew JetBlue out of JFK. For those traveling with an infant you're allowed to travel with anything you may need for the baby. We had formula, bottles filled with nursery water, 2 glass jars of baby food and my older two were on amoxicilian, so we had that also. Before we went through security we had to declare it to TSA. They then tested the water in the bottle and the jars of babyfood. I also travelled with snacks for my older DD's and they didn't say anything about those.

The plane ride was smooth. We had 4 seats and my infant was a lap child. DD #1 sat by the window, DD#2 sat in the middle, I sat in the aisle seat and DH sat in the row next to me, aisle seat. It worked best that way since it kept older DD's blocked in their seat/row. They kept busy with their Leap Pads, snacks and coloring books.

Before we left we shipped a box down to the hotel via FedEx. We packed all the baby's stuff..(diapers, wipes, formula, swim diapers) and all personal items for ourselves like shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen, hairspray, etc. The box weighed 34 lbs and it cost about $26.


Magical Express Bus: when we landed we walked over to the buses and waited about 5 minutes before boarding. It was very convenient. It also picked us up at the hotel on our departure day.

Port Orleans French Quarter Hotel: I loved this hotel. It was nice and very clean. The rooms were plenty big for our family. But, when DD #3 gets older and is no longer in a crib I don't know if this would be a great option for a family of five. The food court was good and had a lot of options. The pool was nice, pretty big and clean. We took the bus from the hotel to the parks everyday. I liked that only ONE bus, the entire time we were there, stopped at PO Riverside. The rest of the buses went straight from the hotel to the parks. Our wait time for the buses was never more than 5 minutes and we always had a seat. And we went prime time so the parks were PACKED!

Crystal Palace: We did the dinner there and thought the food was just OK. My DD's were scared of the characters so we just waved to them from our table.

Akershus: We did the Royal princess dinner and LOVED it. Great food and my girls really enjoyed it.

Via Napoli: The food was great and the atmosphere was nice. Def. recommend.

OHANA: By far our FAVORITE meal while there. The food was excellent!

Chef Mickey's: Again, our DD's were scared of the characters (except my 9 month old) so we had to make sure they did not go near them. The food was ok, nothing great.

Hollywood & Vine: Another character meal so you can probably guess how that went, lol. This one we did the breakfast and it was mediocre at best.

Garden Grocer: we placed an order to be delivered between 3-5 on our arrival day (i wanted earlier, but that was the only time available) and they delivered it around 1:30. No issues with them at all. Great for bottled water, juice, snacks, fruit, milk, etc.

For our quick service meals, we had 2 of them back at the hotel and the rest at the parks. They were all fine, except one...I have to look up the name of the restaurant.

We spent most of our time at Magic Kingdom. Our girls seemed to love it there the best. We also went to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, which they really enjoyed as well.

Oh and we rented a double stroller from Orlando Stroller Rental. It was waiting for us when we arrived at the hotel and was nice and clean.

I can't wait to book our next trip. DD's could not have been any better. No major meltdowns and they really enjoyed themselves.

Message edited 4/5/2012 5:11:03 PM.

Re: Back from Disney w/review

Sounds like you had a GREAT time!!!

'Ohana is one of my favorite meals too!

Did you cry? I would so have cried seeing them seeing everything for the first time.

I'm sorry the character meals were so rough. I usually try to warn people not to schedule too many character meals the first trip for that reason. For your next trip the girls might warm up to the characters but I can suggest some places with fun experiences but no headpiece characters (like 'Ohana)

POFQ is awesome. I love the pool. Once your little one is 3 you won't fit there anymore, but you could try POR. Similar size rooms but with a Murphy bed.

I'm not surprised you're already thinking of the next trip I always say to DH "Ok, so when are we going back?"

Any pics to share? I keep meaning to review my Disney Cruise but I haven't had a chance.

Re: Back from Disney w/review

It sounds wonderful! I often recommend POFQ for families with young children because of its size - and my DD loves the pool!

We're big fans of 'Ohana and Akershus (booked 8 each this morning for clients traveling at the beginning of October) and agree on the other character meals you had. Crystal Palace is the best, and least expensive, way to get into Magic Kingdom before the park opens for the day so that's why we recommend it but not for the food. I do like their salads though!

I can't tell you the number of clients we have who either book a bounceback offer while at WDW or call me on the way home to start planning their next trip.

I still cry :)

- Kimberly Hill
Mouse Tales® Travel
LIFamilies Vendor
Creating Magical Vacations for LIFamilies since 2008

Did you book your vacation through Disney and now you’re overwhelmed? We can help!

Re: Back from Disney w/review

Glad to hear you had a great trip!!

I hear you about Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey's. On DD#1's 1st trip (15 months) - we went to Chef Mickey's early in the week and DD was scared of the characters. They were great however in just standing on one side of the table and interacting with her from there which worked great. But by the next day she had gotten over her fear of them and was able to enjoy Crystal Palace. I agree about the food - but I will say that I think all the character buffets were just eh. I'm not a fan of buffets - but we did lunches so I would stick to the salads and carved meats which are harder to screw up. I think the character meals are better for the character interaction and not for the food. We have always avoided the Hollywood and Dine Character meal because my friends have said the food was the worst out of the character meal choices.

Would you do the stroller rental again? I have a friend considering it.

Re: Back from Disney w/review

Adorable! My favorite part of Disney is seeing kids interact with their favorite character. I even melt when they aren't my kids!

Re: Back from Disney w/review

Re: Back from Disney w/review

Christine, I would def. rent a stroller again. My youngest and oldest used it the most. My middle DD wanted nothing to do with it. It's big and bulky and a pain in the ass when using the buses but I thought it was great to have.